The Girl in the Guitar Case
by girlpandagreenlime
Summary: This is also known as "There's No Such Thing As Ghosts." It's a crossover with Ghost Whisperer as well. Bones and Booth discover the burned body of a teenage girl, and Melinda Gordon is lucky to find her ghost. Things quickly go crazy, as they always do.
1. Chapter 1

This and Chapter 2 are already up as "There's No Such Thing As Ghosts" by limegreenpandagirl. But that account will no longer be used, so the story is posted here! Sorry, my descriptions won't be as technical as they are on the show. I don't own Bones, Danny Phantom, or Ghost Whisperer.

The Ghost Girl in the Guitar Case

"What have we got?" Slapping on white latex gloves, Temperance Brennan and Seeley Booth walked into a taped off music store. Today was just like any other day together, the beginning of a new investigation.

In the very centre of the room, a large black leather guitar case was left open. Inside there was not a musical instrument. Instead, there was a burnt, decaying body.

"The store was reopened three days ago. Some customers came in to look at the case and smelled something rotting inside. The owner found the body when he opened the case," answered Booth, grimacing at the sight of the corpse. Brennan was not phased by it though, instead she started examining it casually. This was not the first time she'd had to deal with this sort of thing. That's why her nickname was Bones.

"Judging from the skull shape and jaw the victim is female. Probably around sixteen or seventeen years old," clarified Bones. "After I examine them here they should be sent to the Jeffersonian Institute."

Bones and Booth were not in Washington, DC. This case was in Amity Park in Central America. This was the first time either of them had ever heard of the place, and so far they were not impressed. The whole town seemed rather eerie and dark. Most of the people they had met and seen so far seemed very afraid of their hometown. Neither of them could imagine why.

"Oh by the way Bones, I ran into one of my old school friends. She thinks she could be helpful in the case," Booth said, trying not to look at the corpse Bones was dealing with.

"Is she a forensic anthropologist?" Bones asked, still examining the body as she spoke.

"No," answered Booth.

"A cop or part of law enforcement?" Bones asked.

"No," Booth repeated again, getting a little impatient.

"Does she even have a degree?" asked Bones. In her opinion, this person seemed quite unhelpful. What could she do if she was not experienced in this field of work?

"No, just…" Booth stammered, getting annoyed with Bone's questions. "Look, here she comes now. Why don't you ask her. And at least attempt to be friendly. I'm going to go talk to the store owner." He pointed in the direction of the door. "Try to at least remember her name," was the last thing he said before walking in the opposite direction of the door to find the man.

A young woman that looked like she was in her late 30's or early 40's with short, wavy, chestnut brown hair walked up to her. She was wearing a black jacket, baby blue t-shirt, and denim skinny jeans. A black bead necklace was around her neck. Brennan snorted a bit at her appearance, which only seemed to prove what she had been thinking earlier. This woman wasn't even dressed properly for work in a crime scene. When she came up to Bones, she immediately started talking.

"Doctor Brennan, it's so wonderful to finally meet you. Booth told me so much about you when we met up yesterday. I hope I can be of some assistance in this tragic case."

She eyed the corpse a little queasily, but other then that, made no notice that it was bothering her. Then she introduced myself. "My name is Melinda Gordon. Booth and I have been friends since we were in elementary school together. The last time we saw each other was when we graduated."

"It's always nice to reunite with individuals you haven't seen for a long period of time," Brennan agreed. "It's an incredibly enlightening experience to see how those people have changed."

Noticing Melinda's bewildered expression, she spoke again. "I apologize if you are unable to comprehend. I'm quite aware that my social skills are limited."

"Oh. No need to apologize," Melinda assured her. "I'm alright with it. You're not the only person who finds it hard to make people like you."

Temperance eyed her with interest. "I hate psychology, but your tone of voice indicates that you are referring to yourself."

Melinda smiled a little bit uneasily. "Well, people think I'm strange."

Temperance nodded. She could relate to that. Then she shrugged away the thought and went back to thinking about the case. "Agent Booth said that you thought you could be of some assistance in this case."

Melinda nodded back. "Yes, that's right." She gazed down at the burnt body, shivered, and folded her arms across her chest.

Temperance looked as though she was expecting more then that. "Could you give me a little bit of an explanation as to why you think that?"

"Oh of course!" Melinda exclaimed quickly, acting a little bit flustered. She started off slowly, trying to meet Brennan's eyes, which looked like an odd mix of hazel and blue. "Well…I…I see ghosts."

"Excuse me?" Bones asked, not quite sure if she had heard correctly.

"I see ghosts. I'm a medium, so if this body's ghost is still around, I can probably get you some information regarding his or her murder. Then I can convince it to move into the light, which is what I've been doing for years. My power is actually why I came to Amity Park. I've heard that this place has held the record for 'Most Ghost Sightings' for ten years. Also, from what I've heard, the ghosts here are very different from what I've seen in other parts of America. I was very curious to see some."

"With all due respect Mrs. Gordon, I don't believe in ghosts," Temperance told her dead seriously. Just as she was saying that, Booth came back. "What's going on?"

"Your friend believes that she can help us by talking to ghosts," Temperance informed him, speaking as though Melinda was not there. Her tone indicated that she believed the idea was ridiculous.

Booth looked at Melinda in shock. "Wait, what? Ghosts?" He asked her in bafflement. "How are you going to talk to ghosts?"

"I can see them just like normal people. But anybody can tell when they're in the same room as you if strange things start happening."

"Strange things?" Booth repeated. "Like what?"

Melinda started to answer, but was interrupted as a guitar behind them started to play, creating an eerie melody. "Like that," she breathed.

"Hey," A tough female's voice surprised Melinda and she whirled around. Bones and Booth copied her, wondering what was behind them that had scared her.

Melinda could see a deathly pale teenager sitting with the guitar in her lap, casually strumming the strings as though she was using no effort to create the melody. Her hair was electric blue, and was literally made of flame. It was held up in a high ponytail, but there were two little pieces that fell on the sides of her face creating an 'M' shape. It flew behind her even though there was no wind in the room.

Her outfit was a very punk style. The black tank top only had one arm hole, and it exposed her skinny belly. She wore dark pants, and shoes that looked like skulls. There was a spiky choker around her neck. The girl's appearance made Melinda shiver, but the creepiest part was her eyes. The girl's eyes were sharp, cold, and an eerie green that reminded Melinda of toxic waste.

The girl's eyes stared challengingly at Melinda as she spoke. "What do you want, dipstick?"

"Are…" Melinda started to speak, but her words got caught in her throat. She took a deep breath in, then out before she started talking again. "Is that you?" She finally asked, pointing at the body in the guitar case.

"Why do you care?" the girl snapped, her hair flaring and crackling. She stopped playing the guitar, and put her electric blue pick in one of the pockets of her pants. "Nobody else cares. Nobody's _ever _cared about me."

"These people care," Melinda responded breathlessly, gesturing towards Bones and Booth, who were staring at the guitar in confusion. "Melinda, who are you talking to?" Booth asked her. Melinda didn't answer. "Are you sure she doesn't have a mental illness that makes her see imaginary people?" Brennan asked under her breath. The comment received a dark glare from Booth as a response.

The ghost girl eyed the F.B.I agent and the forensic anthropologist with interest. "They can't see me? Interesting. Everybody around here can see ghosts."

"Everybody?" repeated Melinda. "Really?" She couldn't believe it. A whole town filled with people like her? It didn't seem possible.

"Yeah. Everybody. Isn't that peachy keen?" the girl sarcastically growled, rolling her eyes. Then she turned her attention back to Booth and Bones. "So why do those people care about what happened to the body?"

"It's their job," Melinda told them. "Brennan finds out what happened to people who are killed, and Booth puts the people who killed them in jail. Could you tell me what they want to know?"

"Oh of course!" the ghost girl cried out in exasperation, throwing her arms up in the air. "I should have known nobody would willingly care about the body! It's just their _job _to care!"

"Not exactly. They wouldn't be doing this job if they didn't care," Melinda spoke gently, hoping that the ghost wouldn't disappear without giving her information.

"Maybe I don't want them to know. Did you ever think about that?" The ghost snapped back rudely. "It's my business. Catch my drift?"

"Ah. So that is your body," discovered Melinda, thinking out loud. She smiled in triumph at the ghost, who rolled her eyes and sighed in exasperation. She seemed annoyed that she had been fooled into confessing some information. "Yeah, okay. It's my body. But that's all I'm gonna tell you. Catch my drift?"

"But couldn't you tell me your name?" Melinda pleaded. "It'd be nice to know who I'm talking to."

The ghost girl eyed her with suspicion. Melinda tried to look as trustworthy as possible. Finally the ghost gave in. "This is so bogus," she mumbled before answering. "Ember. My name is Ember Mclain."

Then without another word, she faded away, leaving behind the scent of smoke. Melinda gasped, and almost fell on her back.

"Whoa! Easy!" Booth cried out in surprise, catching her, and helping her sit down. "What happened?"

Melinda was too surprised to tell him. But she managed to choke out, "Ember."

"What?" Booth asked, not understanding her. "What did you say?"

Melinda took some deep breaths, then tried to speak calmly. "I saw the victim's ghost. Her name is Ember Mclain."

"That's ridiculous. You couldn't know that, there's no evidence so far. You must be assuming that is her name," Temperance piped up.

Melinda shook her head from side to side. "Just trust me on this. Her name is Ember Mclain."

Booth and Brennan looked at each other, but before they could say anything, one of the workers at the crime scene burst into the shop. "Agent Booth, there's something in the trunk of your car!"

Forgetting about the ghost incident instantly, Booth, Bones, and Melinda Gordon leapt to their feet and dashed outside. Sure enough, there was something crashing around in Booth's trunk.

"Stand back," he ordered, and Melinda gladly obliged. But Brennan ignored him and went right up to the trunk with him. He started to protest immediately. "Bones, do you ever listen to me?"

He took out his gun, and his key for his car. "Want me to hold the gun?" Bones whispered.

Booth looked at her incredulously. "You're kidding right? Knowing you, if I let you use my gun, you'd shoot me, not whatever's in there."

Everybody around the trunk was quiet. Not a sound was made. The suspense was building up. Carefully, Booth used his key to unlock the trunk. Then he quickly flung it open, and something popped up like a clown inside a jack-in-the-box. Everybody screamed at the top of their lungs, and Booth's gun went off, hitting the back window of his car.

What do you think was hiding in the trunk? Or, here's a better question.: WHO do you think was in_ there? Please read and review and tell me!_


	2. Chapter 2

I don't own Bones, however I can't wait until the next season comes! The season six finale was INTENSE! Please remember to read and review.

Chapter 2

"Yikes!" The people in Booth's trunk squeaked and ducked. When things got silent again, they popped up and smiled at the familiar faces. "Hi Booth! Hi Bones!" one chirped.

"Hi Mommy! Hi Daddy!" The second one spoke up just as cheerfully as her friend.

"Tibby? Mikey?" Booth asked, recognizing the faces, and lowering his gun. "What the heck are you doing here?"

Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins and Trinity Madison Booth, who everybody called "Tibby" for no apparent reason, were the children of Jack and Angela and Temperance and Seeley. Michael had his mother's gorgeous Hispanic features and his father's blue eyes. Trinity had her father's uncontrollable brown hair, which she liked to keep in braids, and her mother's eyes. Just like the parents, the children were best friends. One was rarely spotted without the other.

"Please don't get angry at Tibby. It was my idea. I wanted to go on an out of town case!" Michael explained in his sweet seven year old voice. It sounded like he was pleading, but at the same time it sounded as though he found nothing wrong with what he had done. "The old skeleton that everyone's working on at home is so boring. I thought whatever was going on here would be more exciting!"

Brennan was not surprised to hear this. Michael had inherited Angela's wild personality. Everybody had known it from the day he was born. There was no point in scolding him, it didn't change anything, but Brennan thought that she should let him know that what he had done was reckless.

"Your mother and father are going to be worried sick!" Brennan cried out to Michael. Just as she was speaking, her cell phone started ringing. She answered it. "Brennan."

"Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. Sweetie, my child is missing! Mikey is missing!" Angela's frantic voice rang out on the phone loudly.

"No Angela, Mikey is fine," Brennan called to her., interrupting her panic attack.

There was a moment of silence. Finally Angela spoke again. "Oh my gosh. Don't tell me."

"Yep. He hid in Booth's trunk. Trinity's here too," explained Brennan. She stole a glance at the children, who noticed and gave her big, wide smiles. Tibby even waved in a friendly manner. They could tell that they were being talked about. Temperance gave them both disapproving glances, then turned away and continued to speak with Angela. "Would you like to speak with him?"

"Yes, I'd like that very much. Thank you Sweetie," Angela said, and Brennan could tell she was speaking with gritted teeth. She waited patiently while Brennan gave her cell phone to Michael, who accepted it and held it to his ear. "Hi Mom."

"Michael Staccato Vincent Hodgins, what the heck are you doing in the back of Booth's car? Listen to me young man, I am leaving right now to come and pick you up and bring you home. You are in serious trouble!"

"Aw come on Mommy. You don't have to do that. Why can't I stay?" Mikey begged. He shot an alarmed glance at Trinity, whose lip started to quiver. It was obvious that she didn't want her friend to leave. As Michael listened to his mother talking, he stared at Tibby, who began shaking her head vigorously, sending a clear message: "Don't let her make you leave!"

"It's far too dangerous Tibby," Angela answered back, trying to make her son understand.

"I'll be fine Mom," Mikey protested. "After all, I've got your DNA in me! I can handle this!"

"But Mikey, crime scenes…Aren't those a little grim for kids? Won't you be frightened?" Angela asked her son, who laughed in reply.

"You've got to be kidding me. I said I have your DNA, but not _that part _of it. These things don't scare me! I've been around skeletons my whole life! Besides, Tibby's here with me. If I do get scared, which isn't likely, she'll make me feel better. Please let me stay! I want to work with the bugs and slime!"

"Hey if he feels comfortable, who says we should stop him?" The carefree voice of Michael's father came on the phone. "This'll be a great opportunity for him to learn some new stuff."

"Jack!" Michael smiled to himself as he listened to his mother. Even though he wasn't with them, he could picture the disapproving glare his mother was giving Daddy. The tone of her voice told him that she wasn't pleased with how he was dealing with the scenario. Silence followed for a few minutes, and finally when Michael was considering hanging up, Jack's voice came back on the phone. "We're calling everyday. If we hear one complaint or problem, you're coming home."

Michael nodded, and said, "Okay," in a tone that made him sound serious. He didn't want to go home. He could be good.

Then his father said, "And Michael?"

"Yeah?"

"Have some fun."

The minute his dad said that, Michael could picture his wide toothy grin, and he knew Angela had forced him to say the thing about coming home if he was bad. In reality, Jack cared about his son, but was confident that he would be okay working in Amity Park.

Before Michael could say, "I will," the dial tone sounded, and he knew that his dad had hung up. He snapped the cell phone shut and turned to Trinity, who had a very worried expression on her six year old face. "I can stay."

"YES!" Trinity was so thrilled with this answer that she flung her arms around Michael and gave him a great big hug. "That's wonderful!"

Booth and Bones were still looking worried. That was when Melinda cleared her throat and spoke up. "If it's any help at all Booth, I have a son at home. So I can take care of them when needed."

"Really? You would do that?" Booth asked her in astonishment.

"Sure. After all, except for talking to the body's ghost, I can't really do anything. I'm not a scientist," Melinda gazed at the children with a warm smile. "Besides, they're cute."

Giggling at the compliment, Trinity and Michal leaped out of the car trunk and raced over to the crime scene, ducking under the police tape with ease. The police officers didn't notice the small bodies running into the music shop, so they couldn't be stopped. The people by the car, however, saw the whole thing.

"Should we stop them?" Melinda asked Booth in alarm. "They could tamper with your evidence."

Booth chuckled a little bit at his old friend. "That's the first thing you need to know about these kids," he told her. "When it comes to crime scenes and bodies, they know what they're doing. They won't destroy the evidence."

As he was speaking, the children were in fact looking at the corpse with amazement. "Wow…" Trinity murmured, trailing off as she knelt by the body pulling on her own pair of gloves. Then she looked at Michael, now ready to start searching. "See any bugs?"

"Umm…Yes!" exclaimed Michael. He quickly pulled on a pair of gloves and grabbed a pair of sterilized tweezers from his pants pocket, along with a glass container. "Those are definitely maggots." Carefully, he picked one up and put it into his jar. "Judging from the stage of development this little guy's in, I'd say the victim died about a week ago."

"Yeah, that sounds about right, judging by the stage of decomposition." Suddenly Tibby shivered. "Do you feel cold?"

"Now that you mention it, it does seem colder then it was a few seconds ago," Michael stood up and looked around the shop. Nobody was there, and nothing seemed out of place. "Weird. Now it's back to normal."

"It was probably just a quick change in the temperature," Tibby spoke logically.

Michael smiled teasingly. "Or, maybe you were scared."

"No way Mikey!" Tibby immediately denied the assumption. "I'm not scared of anything. What about you?"

Mikey shook his head in response. "Nope. I've got nerves of steel baby. Nerves of steel."

Then they continued to work with the body, unaware of the dark shadow that had suddenly appeared and lingered behind them.

They had no idea how quickly their last sentences would become false.


	3. Chapter 3

This is the third chapter of "There's No Such Thing As Ghosts." Please enjoy and remember that I don't own Ghost Whisperer, Bones, or Danny Phantom.

After the quick scare it was business as usual for Bones and Booth. Brennan returned to the body and listened as Tibby and Mikey gave her the information they had found. Then she called the police troops that were outside and asked them to start packing up everything around the crime scene so it could be shipped to the Jeffersonian. With Melinda watching her expectantly, Bones then turned on her laptop so that she could talk to Angela again. "Hey Ange. Melinda would appreciate it if we ran the name Ember McLain through the Missing Persons Database."

"Okay," Angela quickly typed in the name on her keyboard and pressed the Enter button. After a few minutes the computer made a funny noise, indicating that nothing had come up. "Sorry, nobody under that name's been reported missing," Angela informed her.

Brennan shot an "I told you so," look at Melinda, who folded her arms across her chest. "I don't understand. It has to be her!" Melinda was not stepping down even though right now the evidence was against her. "I asked her for her name, and she said it was Ember McLain!"

"Well I'm sorry to inform you that you were incorrect. That just goes to show what happens when you make crazy assumptions without evidence," Brennan shot back, not sounding very sorry at all. "I'll add some tissue markers to the skull and Angela can create a face to run through the Missing Persons Database and the Amity Park Database. Something's sure to come up."

Carefully holding the skull in her gloved hands, Bones looked at Tibby. "Got any erasers in your coat pocket?"

"When don't I?" Tibby grinned, reaching inside her pocket and pulling out a handful. Bones accepted them gratefully, and together the mother and daughter stuck them wherever Brennan deemed necessary. Finally Angela had something to go on. Dashing off to use the Angelator, she returned later with a face it had created. Running it through her computer in the databases, after a few minutes she reported that she had found one girl. Brennan stared intently at Angela's screen, taking in every piece of information on the girl. She started at the name, then added in wonder, "Well what do you know. Ember McLain."

Melinda grinned in triumph. "Aha! So I was right!" She peeked at the picture as well, and instantly a confused frown appeared. "Wait…But this looks nothing like the Ember McLain I talked to!" The picture revealed a girl with long red hair and brown eyes. Instead of looking sarcastic and angry, she wore a great big smile. Her gothic look was gone and replaced with a jean skirt and a cute yellow blouse. The only makeup she wore on her face was a touch of peach lip-gloss.

Brennan didn't respond to her complaint at first. "Thanks Angela. Can you send me her family's address and a copy of the photo?"

Angela nodded and reached for her cell phone. She typed in all of the necessary information, then pressed send. A ringing from Brennan's cell indicated that she received the information. "Thanks again Ange."

Now Melinda wasn't just confused, she was furious. "This is _not _Ember McLain. It can't be!"

Brennan turned to Melinda with a no nonsense look on her face. "I'm sorry if you are unsatisfied with this image. But this is what I'm going to work with because I still do not believe that you saw her ghost. It is scientifically impossible. I listened to your suggestion about her name, and you were right. Probably because it was a lucky guess. But the odds of you getting lucky two times in a row are very slim. Now if you'll excuse me, Booth and I have to go. Can you watch the kids?"

Melinda glared at Brennan. "There are some things that can't be explained scientifically," she replied coldly, before turning away to glance again at the photo Angela had found. Brennan instantly felt uncomfortable, and got into the car with Booth, who was upset about the damage his gun had done to the car.

As they drove away, Angela spoke to Melinda. "Are you okay?"

Melinda sighed and shook her head. "She won't listen to me. But I _know_ what I saw. And that wasn't her," she spoke with a lot of emphasis. Angela could tell that she was positive that the image was wrong.

"Don't get too angry with Brennan. She just isn't very open to new things. I mean, she doesn't believe aliens exist either, and we've worked with bodies that don't look very much like humans." Angela smiled, but Melinda didn't. She just wasn't in the mood for jokes.

Suddenly Angela asked, "Do you want me to draw a sketch?"

Melinda looked at her in confusion. "Come again?"

"If you can describe what the girl you saw looked like, I can sketch it, and send it to Brennan," explained Angela.  
>"Will she listen to you or even use it?" asked Melinda. She had a feeling that no matter what happened, Brennan would not change her mind.<p>

Angela tried to give her some hope. "Well, she's my best friend. Sometimes I can persuade her to listen to me. I can try; I can see that this is important to you." Her face was covered with a small, kind smile, one of her qualities that she used to make her a great 'people person.' Melinda instantly felt a bit better. "Thank you very much Angela."

"Hey, don't worry about it." Certain that Melinda would be okay, Angela reached for a pencil and a sketchbook. "So, what did Ember McLain look like to you?"

"Well, she had long hair like in the photograph. But it wasn't red it was blue! She had it in a high ponytail, but her bangs fell down both sides of her face…

Ding-dong! The doorbell rang loudly. Booth and Brennan stood at the front door of the house the McLains lived in. It was a very nice house, furnished with expensive deck furniture and outside lamps, and lots of flowers in the front yard. It had a friendly mood to it, but not necessarily a mood that associated with children. A very expensive car could be seen in the driveway. Booth guessed it was worth millions.

A woman in her early forties sporting a short black dress and high heels answered the door and greeted them with the words, "Can I help you?"

"Mrs. McLain, I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth. This is my partner Dr. Temperance Brennan," Booth introduced them the same way he always did during an investigation. It almost seemed like tradition. "May we come in?"  
>The look on her face indicated that the woman had no idea why a FBI agent and a doctor were standing at her door. But she gave them a warm smile and invited them in. "Yes of course."<p>

Once they stepped inside, Mrs. McLain led them through her posh house, which was even fancier on the inside then the outside, and let them sit down in the living room on a leather couch. "Please excuse me, I'll just get my husband," Mrs. McLain exited briskly and headed up a set of stairs. While she was gone, Booth whispered to Bones, "This couch probably costs more then my whole house!" Bones just smiled in response to his comment. But she had to agree with him. The McLains seemed like very well off people.

Finally Mrs. McLain came back with her husband, a tall Caucasian man wearing a suit that looked like it cost a lot of money to say the least. "How can we help you?" he asked, sitting down opposite the visitors.

"Well first of all, I'd like to say, you have a magnificent house," Booth complimented, spreading out his arms and looking around in awe.

Mrs. McLain smiled widely and brushed back her bouncy blonde hair. "Thank you. I'm a dentist, and Timothy is an engineering manager. He helped design the mayor's mansion two years ago."

Timothy McLain smiled. "Yep. That's what paid for my _beautiful_ Mercedes."

Booth smiled, but Brennan could tell he was holding back his true feelings. Booth had absolutely no tolerance for rich people, or people who bragged. To take his mind off of it, she gave him her cell phone. "Show them the photograph."

"Oh right. Um, Mr. and Mrs. McLain, is this your daughter here in this photo?" Booth showed it to Mr. and Mrs. McLain. They studied it for a few minutes, and then Mrs. McLain replied. "No. That does not look like our Amy."

"Amy?" Booth and Brennan exchanged glances before Booth spoke again. "We found this picture under the name _Ember McLain_. It's actually how we found you."

"Oh! Well…" Mrs. McLain blushed. "The file must be incorrect! I don't know who that is, but it's not our daughter. Her name is not Ember, it's Amy! At least, I think that's what it is. We didn't call her by name very often so I can never remember if it's Amy or Amber or-"

"The point is, that's not our daughter. Why?" Mr. McLain asked, suspicion growing on his face. "Did she do something?"

"No, she didn't do anything." Before Booth could explain, Brennan's cell phone suddenly rang in his hand. He looked at it and discovered that Angela had sent Brennan a picture and a message. The message said, "Please show this to the McLains. This is who Melinda saw in the music store."

Booth barely looked at the picture, but he opened it up so that he could show it to Mr. McLain and Mrs. McLain. "I'm sorry, but what about this girl? Does she mean anything to you?"

Mrs. McLain gasped and ripped the phone out of his hand to stare at it. "This is her," she breathed out, her makeup-clad face growing pale. "Timothy look, this is our girl!"

She and her husband flipped back and forth between the two pictures. "Now I remember," Timothy whispered. He looked up from them to stare at Booth. "Both of these pictures are of our daughter."

Booth watched them intently, as did Brennan. "Does that mean the file is actually correct? Is her name Ember McLain?"

"No! That may be our daughter, but her name is not Ember! It's Amy or Amber!" Mrs. McLain looked to her husband as though she was mentally begging for help. "Right Timothy?"

Timothy nodded to his wife, then turned to Booth and Bones. "That picture is of our daughter before she completely changed herself." He shook his head and then spoke again, sounding angrier. "She used to be a perfect child. She had her looks, her grades, everything going for her! Then out of the blue she turned into…that!" Timothy McLain pointed at the sketch in front of him. "She started skipping school and spending all of her time playing guitar. She called it music. We called it garbage."

"A week and a half ago she asked us to give her her schooling money so that she could go put on a concert," whispered Mrs. McLain. "We told her that we'd rather die."

"So you didn't have a very good relationship with your daughter?" Brennan finally found a perfect moment to speak up. She found herself growing disgusted with the McLains. "You didn't support her?"

"Why would we? She was completely going against us and our wishes for her!" exclaimed Mrs. McLain. "She was going to be a lawyer or a judge. We'd already saved her a spot in the most prestigious school in the USA! Once she started making money she was going to be rich!"

After her spiel Mrs. McLain burst into tears and put her face into her husband's shoulder. He gave her a one armed hug and glared at Booth and Brennan. "Who do you two think you are, coming into our home and making my wife cry? Why the heck did you come here?"

"I'm terribly sorry about that Mr. McLain. But we found some human remains, and they appeared to be those of the girl in these pictures," explained Booth. "That's why we came."

That sentence seemed to hit the McLains like a boulder to the chest. "Remains?" choked out Mr. McLain, hugging his wife tighter. "Are you serious?" His face paled significantly, and Brennan thought that he might vomit or faint. But instead he just sat there staring at her and Booth.

"I'm very sorry, but I have to ask you. After your daughter asked for her schooling money, what happened?" Booth softly spoke, but it was loud enough that he could be heard over Mrs. McLain's sobs.

"We don't know," Mrs. McLain managed to choke out, turning her head. It looked like she was close to hysterics. "She went out carrying her guitar and a small backpack and we didn't ever see her again."

"Wait," Booth couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Are you saying you don't even know where your daughter went? Why didn't you report her missing when she didn't come home?"

"She didn't stay home much. She liked to be out, and whenever she was home, we'd be working!" explained Mr. McLain. "We figured she was just hanging out with her friends, whoever they were!"

"Mr. McLain, from what I've heard so far, it sounds like you and your wife had almost nothing to do with your daughter!" Brennan was growing angrier by the second. The story she was hearing was absolutely horrid. She gave him an appalled look. "What kind of parents are you?"

Booth gave her a look that told her to cool it, and Brennan immediately stopped talking. Mr. McLain didn't seem to notice her hatred towards him however. "She went to Casper High. Maybe the principal or one of her teachers will be able to help you out more. However, you are welcome to go up and look around in her bedroom if absolutely necessary."

"Thank you," Booth spoke almost in a whisper as he and Bones headed for the door. Bones was too upset to speak to the McLains anymore. The instant she and Booth were driving to the music store, she announced, "Those people were not fit to have children. They didn't even care about their child! The only thing they seem to care about is wealth. They are horrible, selfish people. They can't even remember her name!"

"Don't let yourself get too worked up Bones," Booth advised, keeping his eyes on the road. "Just work on finding out what happened to that girl. Her parents are unimportant right now. I'll deal with them later. They're not going to get away with that. I promise."


	4. Chapter 4

I don't own Ghost Whisperer, Bones, or Danny Phantom. But Tibby and Mikey are my OC's.

The remains got to the Jeffersonian Institute very quickly. Cam grimaced when she opened up the box where the body and the guitar case were stored. "Oh joy. This is lovely."

The rest of the squints quickly joined her. "Oh man!" Hodgins deeply chuckled with delight. "Can't wait to see what little mysteries I'll find on this one." No matter how gruesome a body was in the Jeffersonian, he was never bothered. He always had a good time doing his job.

Cam looked up at him with a disturbed look on her face, as did a new intern whose name Cam couldn't remember. "We'll have to set up the skeleton on a table. Then you can start having fun."

Angela eyed the scene with disgust. Her attitude towards dead bodies hadn't changed, and it was the exact opposite of Hodgins'. "Ew, ew, ew," she muttered. "I seriously need a life."

Hodgins smiled lovingly at his wife. "What? You mean you still haven't discovered the joy in studying skeletons?"

Angela rolled her eyes in response and grabbed an envelope that had been sent by Brennan. When she opened it she found a list of things that Brennan had discovered about the case and the body so far. "Okay, Brennan says it's a female, in her teen years. She suspects she died a week ago."

"Did you confirm the identity when you talked to her last?" Cam asked, beginning to lie out the skeleton.

The smell of burnt flesh and leather made Angela gag. She swallowed, then responded to Cam's question. "It's a girl named Ember McLain. Last I heard Brennan and Booth were going to talk to her parents."

"Alright. I think it's safe for you to go Angela. We'll find you if you're needed," dismissed Cam, beginning to work with the intern on the skeleton. "Let's all work together and find out what killed this girl."

Angela nodded after Cam spoke, turned, and walked to her office. As she flopped onto a couch, something on the coffee table caught her eye. She picked it up and discovered it was the sketch of Ember that she had done for Melinda. It had turned out nice, if she did say so herself. But it made her throat feel like it was closing up and her heart wrench in her chest. Pictures of the bodies the squints investigated that showed what the skeletons looked like alive always did that to her. She hated looking at them and wondering, _"What happened to you?"_ Now, gazing at the face of this deceased teenager, Angela was wondering exactly that. But then something caught her eye. Ember was a very pretty girl, and her features stood out nicely. She looked like she was capable of great things. But her face didn't look happy. She was scowling, and her eyes seemed to burn into Angela's like tiny, little…embers.

Angela shivered a bit, and wrapped her other arm around herself as though trying to keep warm. Now the only thing wandering around in her head was _"What could make this beautiful young girl so upset?"_

"WHEEEEEEEEEE!"

Tibby squealed with delight as she whipped around and around on a swirled slide. The second her feet touched the ground again she sprung up and wobbled around, feeling dizzy. "This playground is so much better then the one at home."

Mikey had been watching her from a swing. Kicking his feet back and forth, he slowly gained momentum until he was soaring as high as he could. Then he let go of the chains and flew towards his friend. As he landed roughly on his feet the force caused him to bend his knees a little bit, but he quickly sprung up again and spoke. "Totally! That swing-set is even better then the carousel!"

Tibby couldn't stop grinning, especially when a butterfly landed gently on her foot. "Oh look Mikey!"

His curiosity peaked, Mikey bent down again to inspect it. "Wow," he breathed in wonder. " A Danaus plexippus. Better known as a monarch butterfly. It's beautiful."

Before he could determine what sex the insect was or how old it was, it flew away. The kids watched it until it was just a speck in the sky. Then a wind came their way, and with it a smell. It was a nasty, rotting smell. Most people would have been grossed out by it. But Tibby looked at Mikey and grinned mischievously when it reached her nostrils. They both knew what it was a sign of. Something had died. Something they could inspect.

Mikey and Tibby followed the scent to a field in the playground where buttercups and clover grew. Hidden in the thick grass was a decaying bunny. Flies flew around it, making annoying buzzing sounds like a bunch of mini chainsaws as they landed, then flew off the body over and over again. But the kids didn't mind; they were fascinated.

Tibby glanced around to see if Melinda could see them. She was the one who had taken them to the park, thinking it would be a fun thing for the two children to do while Brennan and Booth worked. At the moment she was not watching Tibby and Mikey like she had been for the past hour. She was inside a tiny Amity Park gift shop, trying to find souvenirs to buy for her husband and child.

"You don't think Melinda will mind if we inspect this bunny, do you?" Tibby asked as Mikey handed her some gloves and tools.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure it'll be okay." Mikey's eyes shone brightly and slyly as he spoke in a sing-song voice. "You know, I read in one of my dad's books that rabbits can't puke. Plus, they've got really cool skeletons." He was hoping that any facts he mentioned would make Tibby forget about worrying and just start having fun again. Dissecting things and inspecting the skeletons was something they did all the time. It was as normal to them as breathing.

Just as Tibby was about to pick up the rabbit so she could put it on a concrete bench or black top, a little girl about Mikey's age ran up to them. "Hi! My name's Bethany!" She gave them a big smile, and brushed her rod straight blond hair behind her ear. She was dressed in a short pink dress and flip-flops. She hadn't noticed the dead bunny yet, but she had noticed the obnoxious rotting smell and was wrinkling her nose, trying not to breathe it in.

"Hi Bethany. I'm Trinity Brennan. But you can call me Tibby. This is my friend Michael. You can call him Mikey." Tibby introduced herself as she and Mikey flashed polite smiles. "We're visiting here with my parents. They're here for work."

"Oh," Bethany nodded as though she understood. "I get it. My dad goes on a lot of business trips too. He owns the Floating in Delight candy chain."

"You mean the one that makes marshmallows as big as pillows?" cried out Mikey in wonder. "I love those marshmallows! They're the only ones I tell my parents to buy!"

Bethany giggled at his statement. "Yep. It's _so_ cool. He always brings me home bags of new candies for me to try. I tell him what I think, and if they're good enough, they get mass produced." Then she changed the subject. "I was about to play with my dolls in the playhouse. Would you like to join me?"

Both Tibby and Mikey were not big fans of dolls, being children who liked to be outside and getting dirty. "I've got a better idea," suggested Mikey. "Why don't you help us with this?" He gestured to the rabbit corpse on the ground below.

Bethany followed his finger and shrieked loudly when she saw what he was showing her. "Ew! What are you going to do with _that_?" she asked, covering her mouth with her hand in disgust.

"Isn't it obvious?" Tibby asked incredulously. She had thought it was easy enough to figure out. "We're going to dissect it! I'm going to look at the bones, and Mikey's going to inspect the fur and guts, and everything else. We'll share the tools."

Tibby offered Bethany a scalpel and the blond girl's face turned green with nausea. She gave both the children she had been trying to befriend moments earlier disgusted looks and started to back up. "You two are freaks! There's no way I want to play with you anymore!" Then she turned around and bolted away without so much as saying "Goodbye," or "Nice to meet you."

Tibby and Mikey watched her run away before looking at each other again. It was silent for a few minutes, until Mikey piped up awkwardly. "Well…that could have gone better."

Tibby flung herself down onto the grass in front of the dead bunny with frustration. Tears from her anger began falling, and she made no effort to wipe them away. "Why does this always happen?" she asked Mikey angrily. "Every time we try making friends with somebody they call us freaks. Why?"

Mikey watched his friend sadly. It was true. Both children were very friendly, and were always trying to befriend classmates and other kids they met around their community. But the second they started talking about their interests the child they were trying to befriend would run away or insult them. Then he or she would never talk to Tibby or Mikey again. It made them feel like outcasts and loners. And they were far too young to be dealing with that.

Finally Mikey spoke up again. "I don't know. Mom and Dad always tell me that dealing with dead things isn't something many kids are comfortable with. Some adults aren't even okay with it."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean they need to treat us differently!" cried out Tibby. She pulled her legs up to her chest and rested her chin on her knees. "For example, you know Billy and Chelsea, those twins in our self-defense class? It was their birthday a few weeks ago. They invited everybody in the class except for us to the party. And remember when I invited you and Fiona to my house for dinner that one time? We talked about organs all night long. The next day at school she acted like she didn't even know us! And…" She trailed off, sniffling loudly. "If I kept listing, by the time I was done all of the flesh would be gone off this bunny. I don't know why we even bother trying anymore. I just…" Tibby trailed off again. Then she found the words she wanted to voice. "I just wish the other kids would give us a chance."

Mikey stepped over the dead bunny so that he could sit beside his friend and comfort her. Knowing that she was distressed, he wrapped her in his arms and hugged her tightly. They didn't speak for a long time; they just sat in the grass and stared at the rabbit. Tibby, suddenly feeling exhausted, rested her weary head on her friend's shoulder and let her tears fall freely.

"Excuse me."

The touching moment was interrupted as the voice of a girl rang through the air, polite and cautious. Instinctively breaking apart and turning around, Tibby and Mikey were greeted by the sight of a tall child wearing a gray and black jumpsuit with a strange emblem on the chest. It reminded the young children of a superhero's costume. The girl looked like she was between the ages ten and twelve, with gray-white hair in a ponytail and vibrant bright green eyes. She looked deeply concerned. "Are you guys okay?"

"Oh." Tibby wiped her eyes and cleared her throat so that it didn't look like she'd been crying. "Yeah. We're okay. Thank you for asking."

"No problem." The mysterious girl smiled kindly and extended her hands to help the kids up. "I've never seen you around Amity Park before. Are you new?"

While she spoke, Mikey stared at her with his face scrunched up in concentration and confusion. There was a tiny voice in his head telling him that something was off about this girl. But he couldn't figure out what was wrong. He felt like he should know what was wrong, like it was right in front of his face!

After a few minutes he remembered that the girl was expecting an answer, so he choked out a response. "No. Her parents are working here. We just sorta…tagged along," He slowly stood up and pointed his thumb at Tibby. "I'm Mikey. That's Tibby."

"I'm Danielle. Folks around here call me Dani." Now that the kids knew who this strange girl was, they felt a bit more comfortable. But Tibby still didn't want to get too friendly. Not after what had happened moments ago.

Dani spoke up again. "I saw what happened with that other girl. I thought I'd let you know that I know what it's like to not be accepted."

"Really? You?" Mikey eyed Dani with disbelief. "Why?" Dani looked like a normal human being. _"But then again, Tibby and I seem normal too," _he thought to himself.

Dani chuckled humorlessly. "It's complicated. But regardless, I know what you're going through. Which is why I thought I'd offer to hang out with you for a bit. That is, as long as you don't mind."

"You want to hang out with _US_?" repeated Tibby, now not feeling like she had to cry. "But you're twice our age!"

"That's okay. I'm completely free right now." Dani smiled in a friendly manner. "What were you guys about to do?"

"We were going to dissect this rabbit," Tibby's voice lowered to a whisper and her eyes fell to the carcass by her feet.

Dani didn't stop smiling. "Really? Aren't you guys a bit young to be dissecting things? Most kids don't do that until they're in high school science class." She eyed the tools that the kids were planning on handling. "Do you know how to use those things?"

"We've been dealing with dead bodies our _whole lives_," bragged Mikey, feeling more confident. "Tibby's mom and all of her friends deal with bodies and stuff. They let us help all the time. We're lucky because most kids wouldn't be allowed to do what we do. It's really cool."

"Usually I help my mommy inspect the bones and Mikey gets to identify bugs, slime, and any particulates that are found on the body," explained Tibby. "Sometimes we do other jobs. Don't worry, we know how to use the tools carefully."

To demonstrate, Tibby used her glove-covered hands to pick up the rabbit and carry it to the black top. Then she looked seriously at Mikey. "What should we use to get rid of the remaining flesh?"

Mikey thought for a few minutes. "I guess we could just remove the bones using tweezers and the pocket- knife. There's probably lots of stuff for me to look at on the flesh and in the fur."

"Right." Tibby opened the pocketknife and slowly started cutting the flesh off the rabbit's body. Blood started pooling on the ground and her gloves were quickly stained red, but she didn't stop. Eventually she removed as much as she dared. "Bugs and animals will get rid of the rest," she explained to Dani, who was watching intently.

Once she was finished dealing with the flesh, Tibby started investigating the skull and Mikey started sorting through the organs. "I think it was a female. Only a couple of years old," Tibby clarified, looking at her friend. "Mikey, did you find out what killed it?"

Mikey looked up from the stomach contents. "I won't be able to know for sure what's inside the stomach without my dad's machines, but because we found it in a field with buttercups and clover, I'm going to guess that it poisoned itself. Those plants are deadly to rabbits." Then Mikey looked over to Dani, who was still watching them work. "Do you want me to show you how to classify the types of bugs and dirt?"

"There's different types of dirt?" Dani asked in confusion. "I always just called dirt…well, dirt!"

"My dad hates it when people say 'dirt,' said Mikey, "because there's all different kinds." Grabbing a pair of tweezers, he picked up a rock from the fur on the ground. "Now this may look like just an average rock, but actually it's milky quartz…"

The kids spent half an hour with Dani, explaining everything they did and everything they discovered. Dani participated eagerly, asking questions and using tools to pick up pieces of the bunny and inspect them carefully. Mikey and Tibby even showed her how to tell whether the bunny was male or female. Mikey quickly forgot about something being odd about his new friend.

"Wow," Dani commented at one point after being taught what some of the scientific language that the children were using meant. "You two are even smarter then some of the teenagers around here!" The compliment caused the faces of Tibby and Mikey to turn crimson.

"Tibby! Mikey!" Hearing their names, the children whipped around and saw Melinda walking towards them. "There you are. I thought you'd disappeared. Tibby's dad just phoned. They're finished working for the day so they're going to meet us at your hotel so that you can go out for dinner. What are you doing over here?"

"We found a rabbit! Isn't it cool?" Tibby spoke quickly. "Dani's been helping us and we've been showing her how to use the tools we've got here."

"That's great Tibby," Melinda smiled as she spoke to the little girl. But then she looked around and she frowned slightly. "But who's Dani?"

"What do you mean? She's right—" Tibby turned around again and pointed to where Dani used to be sitting. But now she was pointing into thin air. "What?" she shrieked in disbelief. "She's gone! But she was right here!"

"Maybe she's shy," suggested Mikey, gazing around. There was nowhere close by where Dani could have hidden, and as far as the eye could see there was no sign of her. It was like she had vanished in thin air.

Tibby turned back to Melinda. "She wasn't an imaginary friend, so don't even suggest that," she ordered. "I _know_ she was here. She had hair that was kind of white and grey, and really bright green eyes."

"There was something really odd about her," admitted Mikey. "I couldn't figure out what it was." Closing his eyes tightly, he tried to imagine Dani. He saw her long hair, kept in a ponytail, with her bangs out of her eyes, which shone with green light. They were even brighter then the go sign on a traffic light. He continued to picture her, down to her gray and black jumpsuit, which seemed very thin and airy suddenly…

"I've got it!" he yelled, his eyes springing open again. "Dani's body, it wasn't solid!"

Melinda looked at him with concern. "What do you mean?"

"I mean I could look right through her body. Like, I saw what she was wearing, but I could see everything behind her too. You know, like looking at a glass."

Listening to Mikey describe his new friend made Melinda's face go slightly pale. She tried to hide her astonishment by widening her smile. "That's very interesting Mikey. Now come on, let's get your hands and tools washed up. If you'd like you can get something from the souvenir shop, then we'll drive over to your hotel."

Leading the children in front of her, Melinda was thinking hard to herself. Had Tibby and Mikey seen what she thought they saw? Had they seen a ghost?

Suddenly Melinda remembered something that made her even more worried:

"_How is Temperance Brennan, a woman who doesn't believe ghosts exist, react when I tell her that her daughter has _seen_ a ghost?"_

_Please leave me a review!_


	5. Chapter 5

I have no good excuses for why this is so late. I'm so sorry to all of those people who have been waiting! Please enjoy, and remember that I don't own Bones, Danny Phantom, or Ghost Whisperer. I do own Tibby though.

By the time Melinda and the children arrived at the hotel Bones and Booth were waiting by their car. As she got closer, Melinda could hear different words in their conversation like interview, picture, and 'behind our backs.' She realized that they must have been discussing the sketch that Angela had done. Booth looked like he wasn't troubled by it, but Brennan looked angrier then an old wet hen. Oh dear. _"She must have found out about the sketch," _Melinda thought to herself. Reluctantly she got out of her car and braced herself for the worst.

The instant Bones saw her, she began advancing. "How DARE you!"

"Whoa! Simmer down Bones!" Booth exclaimed, racing behind her. He was obviously trying to get her to calm down, but she ignored him and continued to rant at Melinda. "You had no right to go behind our backs and ask Angela to draw that sketch! I told you I didn't need it!"

Now Melinda was the one that was furious. "Whoa, whoa, whoa!" She interrupted Bones by waving her hands in front of her in a way that said _'Now just hold on a minute.' _"I did no such thing! For your information, Angela asked _me _if I wanted the sketch done. I didn't ask her anything!"

That made Bones stop talking. As both ladies stood and stared at each other, Bones looking confused and Melinda looking very indignant, Booth tried reasoning again. "It doesn't really matter Bones. I mean, that sketch actually helped us. So there's no reason to get upset about it, is there?"

There was silence for a little while longer. Then Bones said in a monotone, "No. I suppose not." She now looked like she felt a little bit awkward. After she bundled up the courage, she said awkwardly to Melinda, "I'm sorry. My behaviour was irrational."

Melinda looked like she wanted more then that, but she still said, "That's alright," knowing that Booth wanted them to forgive each other so that they could work well together on the case.

"So," Booth spoke up again, clasping his hands together and looking as if he was eager to put the matter behind them, "where are the kids?"

"Oh! Right!" Melinda pointed behind her to her car, which Tibby and Mikey had exited. They were standing there somewhat awkwardly, and everybody could tell they'd been watching what had been going on. Melinda suddenly remembered what she had been thinking about earlier. "Um," she opened her mouth, ready to try revealing it to her friends, but then she closed her mouth again. She had just gotten into an argument with Brennan, she didn't need to make her any angrier. "Never mind."

"Thank you so much for watching them Melinda," Booth said, walking over to his daughter and picking her up in his arms so he could swing her around and make her giggle.

"Oh it's no trouble at all Booth," Melinda said, finding her voice. Looking at her, Booth had the feeling that Melinda was holding something back, but he knew she wasn't the type of person to open up, so he didn't mention it. Instead an idea sprouted in his mind. "Listen, Bones and I were thinking of bringing the kids to the Nasty Burger for dinner. Care to join us?"

"Oh no, I wouldn't want to impose," Melinda declined, but Booth waved her protest away with a casual flick of his hand. "Don't even worry about that. You're part of the team now, we've got to treat you like it. Climb in."

Temperance watched as Melinda reluctantly obeyed and slipped into the back of the car with the children. She had to admit, Melinda's beliefs were ridiculous to her, but that didn't make her a bad person. On the contrary, she was wonderful to be around. Temperance just hoped she didn't mess up the case that she and Booth were working so hard on. They had never been defeated before, she wasn't about to let a superstitious high school friend change that.

Tibby caught her mother glancing back and held up the book Melinda was reading from. "Mommy, look at my new book!" She held up a paperback novel entitled, 'Boo! The Real-Life Ghosts of Amity Park.'

"It sounds like a desperate attempt to attract tourists to the area," Brennan stated. "A bored person with plenty of time on his hands using the town's irrational beliefs in ghosts to spin together lies about how he's seen them all. It's foolish! There is no way that a person could see spirits because they don't exist, as I've explained before."

After her speech, she noticed that Melinda had grown tense. She coughed uncomfortably, rubbing her throat with a hand, then spoke up. "Excuse me Doctor Brennan, but there's something I should tell you…"

But before she could say what she'd wanted to, there was the sound of crunching metal and breaking glass. Suddenly the car was wildly in the road. Cursing, Booth gripped the steering wheel and wrenched it around and around, trying to straighten the car out. "Look out!" Brennan gasped as they almost crashed into another car on the road. Luckily Booth managed to get back on the right side of the road and he immediately pulled over to survey the damage. "Is everybody alright?" he asked, looking back worriedly. "Jeez, what was that?"

Brennan started giving a rational explanation, but this time Tibby wasn't paying attention. She was staring through the window up into the dark night sky with her green-blue eyes scrunched up. Mikey was leaning beside her and trying to see too. Melinda noticed them both staring. "What do you two see?" she muttered to herself. Curious, she opened her door, stepped out into the street, and looked up.

Above them two ghosts were battling. The older ghost wore a metallic battle suit in shades of black, grey, and the same color blue as Ember's flaming hair. His hair was a pile of flames as well, but his was styled into a Mohawk, and he had a tiny beard. His hair was a different color then Ember's as well. Instead of being electric blue, it looked mint green. His entire body seemed to glow. The second ghost was younger, and a male as well. If he were alive, Melinda would have guessed he would be in high school. He wore a grey and black jumpsuit with some sort of logo on the front. His hair was powder white and his wide eyes were neon green and glowing. In fact, his whole body was glowing just like the other ghost. Both ghosts seemed to have extraordinary powers, sending various coloured rays and explosions back and forth from different parts of their bodies. They even were able to create defensive force fields. Melinda was quickly mesmerized by the fight going on over her head. She had never seen anything so amazing in all of her years as a medium.

"Give up ghost child! In ten seconds I will have your pelt to lay at the foot of my bed!" Melinda heard the bigger ghost who was wielding weapons holler threateningly. She could see now that he seemed more experienced with his abilities. Every shot he fired now seemed to hit his opponent, who was quickly tiring. Melinda was sure that the young boy was going to lose.

Which is why she was surprised when the teenage ghost cried out in defiance, "Oh yeah?" Immediately afterwards his hands began glowing green; with a loud grunt, he produced the strongest blast of light that Melinda had seen so far. It flew straight towards the large ghost and hit him in the chest. After being pushed backwards and slamming painfully into a tall brick building, he tried to keep fighting. But his battle suit was destroyed, and he was too weak. So he couldn't stop the teenage ghost boy from sucking him into what looked like a vacuum cleaner. Then the victorious ghost sped away from the scene, almost as if he didn't want to be seen there.

"Mikey, didn't that boy look like Dani? They were exactly identical!" exclaimed Tibby, wonder evident on her face. She was grinning quite broadly, surveying the action and looking unafraid. The shock of what had happened the car was long forgotten.

"Melinda, who is Dani, and why is Tibby saying that she could see somebody who looks like her in the sky when there's nobody up there?" The voice of Temperance Brennan reminded Melinda of what she'd been trying to say before the accident. Grimacing, she turned to Brennan. "That's what I was trying to talk to you about…"

Now that the fight was over, Melinda was shocked to see other people there. She had been watching so intently that she hadn't even noticed that a crowd had been gathering. Firefighters, policemen, an ambulance attendant, and several city dwellers were now around. Melinda even spotted a van with the words, "Ghost Hunters" painted on it. Many of the people had been watching the fight as well and were now talking to each other about it. There was a range of emotions flying around: fear, joy, wonder and worry just to name a few. One name seemed to be popping up everywhere: Danny Phantom.

A news reporter was already doing a story. "I'm Zoë Spirit reporting live from Spook Street where a fight between infamous Danny Phantom and another ghost has just occurred. While fighting, Danny Phantom flew into this vehicle, causing it to spin out of control. Luckily, everybody inside appears to be unharmed." She then faced a tall man wearing a suit. His greying hair was pulled back into a very tight ponytail and he had a grim look on his rectangular face. "Mayor Masters, what do you think about Danny Phantom and what he has done to this city?"

The mayor faced the camera and began to speak in a calm and determined voice. "Danny Phantom is the scourge of this town. He has been the cause of destruction and chaos for too long. I swear that I will do everything in my power to get rid of him once and for all."

Zoë faced the cameras as well and spoke in her perky voice. "That was Mayor Masters speaking out on behalf of the town of Amity Park. That's all for this news broadcast. Join us tomorrow at six for more news stories. Good night."

After the cameraman called out that they had stopped rolling Brennan marched over to the reporter. "How can you tell such lies to the people of this town?"

Zoe gave her a confused look. "I'm sorry?"

Quickly Booth stepped in trying to stop Brennan from angering anybody. Holding up his badge, he said, "FBI. I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, this is my partner Temperance Brennan. Are we still needed here, or can we leave for dinner?"

Before Zoe could answer, Brennan butted in again. "She can't go around telling everybody that ghosts are terrorizing the town! It's false information, she could cause a major panic!"

"Excuse me?" Zoe asked, anger appearing on her face. "My news stories aren't false. They're one hundred percent accurate. A ghost hit your vehicle. There are witnesses. It wasn't anything else."

"There are no such thing as ghosts!" seethed Brennan, waving her arms in exasperation. "Is this entire town insane? Ghosts are just creatures of fantasy, just like vampires or werewolves, or anything else of the sort!"

"That's not true," Melinda came up behind them to confront Brennan. She figured that she may as well just tell Brennan what she needed to while she had the chance. "Ghosts do exist, and your child has seen them. So has Mikey. I would have told you earlier, but you were furious and I didn't want to make you angrier with me. Though now I see that any time I tell you this it will make you angry."

"You're obviously still in shock from the accident," Brennan said, pushing Melinda's words away breezily, as if they were of no use to her. "So I'm going to forget that you said that. But I don't want to hear any more talk about ghosts, or I'll ask Agent Booth to remove you from the case. Is that clear?"

Melinda's mouth dropped open. She felt like she'd been punched in the gut. She needed to be in this case, she needed to find out what had happened to Ember. But what could she do if Brennan wasn't allowing her to even speak the word 'ghost' anymore? Ghosts were a part of her life, they always had been! She couldn't just drop everything and forget all she knew!

"Bones, I'm not going to remove Melinda from the case." Now Booth was in the conversation, and he didn't sound very happy. "I know that you don't have the same beliefs as she does, but if this town really does believe in ghosts then we need her. She can relate to the people here in ways that we can't. If you make me force her to leave, we could be losing an incredible amount of information on the case. I mean, look at what she's already given us."

At this point Zoë had left the scene with her camera crew and the crowd of witnesses had dispersed. "Can you imagine what would have happened if she hadn't told us to look for a person named Ember McLain?" Booth whispered to Bones, knowing well that he couldn't let anybody who was still there hear any information about the case. Bones didn't speak a word. Instead, she glared appalled at his decision. When he was finished speaking she flounced off, gathered up the children, and began leading them down the street so that they could get something to eat. Booth sighed wearily. Brennan would get over it eventually.

"Excuse me, but did I hear that you are with the FBI?" The mayor, who looked older then he should have for his age, approached the trio with an interested look on his face. "Does this mean that you're the ones that came to solve the case involving the corpse in the music store?"

"Yes, we are," answered Booth, reaching out to shake the mayor's hand. "I'm Special Agent Seeley Booth, ands is my friend Melinda Gordon who has been helping out on the case. I'm sorry sir, but I can't release much information at this time."

The mayor nodded solemnly. "I understand. Can you at least tell me who it was that died?"

"Her name was Ember McLain," Melinda spoke softly after receiving a nod of approval from Booth.

Hearing the name made the mayor sigh deeply. He instantly looked even older then before. As he spoke he placed a hand over his heart. "Oh that poor child. She was a remarkable girl."

"You knew her?" asked Booth, instantly pulling out a notebook and pen.

Mayor Masters nodded. "We only knew each other for a short time, but I knew her better then her parents did. The first time I met her she was performing in a concert at my mansion. She was in the opening band. Afterwards, I spoke to her about having her own concert. I offered to fund the entire thing."

"Really? That's awfully generous of you," Booth said with a hint of suspicion in his voice. "Why did you do that?"

Mayor Masters said, "She had an incredible amount of talent. I just didn't want it to go to waste. Also, I felt so bad for her. Her relationship with her parents was strained, and she was hanging out with some very bad kids. Kids that are known for getting into trouble."

"Really?" Booth repeated. This was getting better and better. "Could I have their names?"

"Why of course. Anything to help your investigation." At this point Melinda thought she saw a wicked smirk flash across Mayor Masters' face. But she blinked, and when her eyes were open again the smirk was gone as quickly as it had come. She wasn't even positive that she had seen it.

"The names are Tucker Foley, Sam Manson, and Daniel Fenton," the kind mayor told the investigators. Booth wrote down the names quickly, then tucked his notebook and pen away. "Thank you very much Mayor Masters." As he shook the mayor's hand again, the man said, "Oh please, there's no need for formalities. Just call me Vlad. And once again, don't worry about it. I want to help your investigation as much as I can. That way the poor girl can be put to rest." Suddenly his midnight blue eyes lit up. "That reminds me. Have you seen her ghost around here since you started the investigation?"

Melinda couldn't lie. She nodded slowly, getting Vlad's attention. "Once. At the crime scene. They couldn't see her though. Doctor Brennan doesn't believe that ghosts exist."

"Is that so?" Vlad mused, suddenly going quiet. There was a moment of silence, then Booth said, "Well, we better get going. We still haven't had dinner yet."

"Oh, of course. I wouldn't want to stop you from eating," Vlad chuckled. "It was a pleasure to meet both of you. I hope your investigation goes well Agent Booth."

Melinda and Booth thanked him, then turned to walk in the direction that Brennan, Mikey, and Tibby had left in. So unfortunately, they didn't see Vlad's evil smile or see him turn into a ghost and fly off to his home.

I hope you enjoyed this! A review would be nice…Please review! I want to know if I'm doing a good job!


	6. Chapter 6

I'm sorry it took so long to update! Hopefully this new chapter will make it up to all my wonderful followers, favoriters, reviewers, and readers! Also, just a quick note, I know that the child of Booth and Brennan is not named Tibby. But this story was started before Christine was born, and I don't plan on changing it now. I hope that's okay! Maybe she'll be mentioned, but I'm not getting rid of Tibby.

I don't own Danny Phantom, Bones, or Ghost Whisperer. Please enjoy, read, and above all, review! I want to know what you think! Do you like this story? Hate it? Let me know! But please no flames!

Chapter 6

The next day was a Saturday, so it wasn't hard for Booth to get Samantha Manson, Tucker Foley, and Daniel Fenton into an interrogation room with him. The three had demanded to be interrogated together, and Booth had obliged, thinking it would make them trust him and actually be helpful. But from the way they were all staring at him, it was as though he had asked them each to do ten extra pages of homework. He could tell that it wouldn't be easy for him to convince them to talk. Especially Samantha.

"This girl looks like she wants to throttle somebody," Booth said to Brennan. Both of them were staring through a one way window into the interrogation room and Booth was putting on a headset so that he could communicate with other people who weren't coming with them into the room. Melinda was one of those people, much to Brennan's distaste. However, she made no comment as she and Booth walked into the interrogation room and sat down at a table across from the three teenagers.

"So what are we doing here?" the teen named Tucker asked once the two adults had sat down. "Because I've got to tell you, my mom's freaking out." Tucker looked to be the most nervous of the three teenagers, and Booth got the feeling that he was a nerdy goody two shoes sort of kid that had never been in a police station before. If these kids had killed Ember, Tucker had probably only done it under extreme pressure from the other two. Booth got the opposite feeling staring at Sam, the goth, who had a dark glare focussed on him. As he had said earlier, she looked like she could kill somebody easily and feel no guilt afterward if she felt the person deserved it.

Finally, Booth wasn't too sure what to think about Danny. The kid seemed harmless enough, but there was a flash of nervousness in his blue eyes that made Booth feel like he was afraid of getting caught for something.

"We just need to ask you a few questions," Booth told Tucker. He wanted the kids to be as comfortable as they could be considering the circumstances. From his experiences with teenagers, if they felt threatened they didn't talk. "First of all, we've been told that you three know a girl who goes by Ember McLain. Is that true?" He slid the two pictures that he had shown to Ember's parents across the table, and the three teens stared at it.

Sam's eyes left the photo and sketch first. "Yeah, we know her. Is that a crime? Or can we go? You're scaring Tucker so badly he's actually not talking as much as he usually does, and it's freaking me out." Her violet eyes burned as she snapped at the F.B.I agent. Unfortunately, Booth was very bad at handling people with tempers, so his patience vanished.

"No, it's not a crime _Samantha_," he snapped back, noting her increase in fury when he spoke her full name. "But murder, on the other hand, is a very serious crime."

"Murder? What are you talking about?" Danny demanded, a look of panic flying onto his face as he looked up from the pictures. It took him a few seconds, but he finally looked down at the pictures of Ember again and understood. "Wait…Are you saying that-"

Brennan nodded. "Yes. Ember is dead. We're very sorry for your loss."

Danny looked like he'd been slapped in the face, as did Tucker. Booth couldn't identify the look on Samantha's face, but it looked suspicious. In fact, the attitudes of all three teens seemed off.

Finally Danny spoke again. "Wow…That's…Wow, I can't believe it."

"You don't sound very surprised," observed Booth.

Danny opened his mouth to comment, but what Booth had said seemed to make Sam's attitude worsen, and she snapped before Danny could speak. "How do you want us to sound? We just discovered that she's dead!" At that moment she crossed her arms over her chest. "You don't just want to ask us questions, you probably think we're responsible! I'm not saying another word until my parents get me a lawyer."

Booth was prepared to just walk out or force the teens to talk, but before he could do anything, Melinda's voice came into his ear. "Booth."

He adjusted his headset and got up, moving as far away from everybody as he could so that nobody could hear his conversation. "Yeah Melinda?"

"Would it be okay if I talked to them?"

Now Booth was hesitant. "I don't know Melinda. They're being pretty difficult right now."

Melinda spoke again. "I think I know how to get them to talk. Please trust me."

After hesitating, Booth relented. "Okay." He turned to Bones, who stood up and approached him with a confused look on her face. "What's going on Booth?"

Booth beckoned for her to come with him. "Come on. We're going to go for a second." Then he pointed to the three teenagers. "You three stay here. That's an order."

After watching all three nod reluctantly, Booth and Bones exited the interrogation room. "What are we doing Booth?" Bones demanded again, a bit more urgently then she had the first time. Her eyes revealed her feelings to Booth, and he responded carefully. He didn't want to lie to his girlfriend and mother of his children, but at the same time he wasn't sure that telling her about Melinda going into the interrogation room was the smartest idea, given the past events. Finally he just said, "You should go back to the vehicle and talk to the squints to see if they've found any information that we can use. I don't think those kids are going to talk unless we get some evidence that ties them to the case. They won't be left in there forever; I'll find someone to bring them home until we need them again, and then I'll meet you in the car so we can go back to the hotel. Melinda's got some stuff to do around town, so she can grab a taxi and meet us there later."

Brennan eyed him warily. "Booth, are you okay?"

"Of course I am," he assured her, pulling her close to give her a kiss before speaking again. "I just need a bit more information before we can talk to them. Okay?"

Though the wary look on Brennan's face didn't leave, she nodded once and said, "Okay," before turning and walking in the direction of the vehicle where she could access a webcam to talk to her friends at the Jeffersonian. The second Booth was sure she wouldn't be able to hear him, he headed to where Melinda was waiting for some sign that it was safe for her to go into the interrogation room.

"The coast is clear," Booth told Melinda, though he felt a little paranoid that Bones would come back and hear them talking. "Would you mind telling me what's going on?"

Melinda wasn't really sure how to voice what was going on her mind. The instant that she had seen Danny, Sam, and Tucker enter the interrogation room, she had been shocked to realize that Danny looked exactly like the ghost boy she had seen fighting the previous night, except his eyes were green, his hair was black, and at the moment, he was definitely NOT a ghost. The idea that a human could also be a ghost was something she'd never heard of before, and it was quite remarkable. But it was also confusing, and because Booth had not been able to see the ghost boy, Melinda knew he would not understand anything she was thinking. So she just gave a smile that she hoped would make her seem not uncomfortable, and said, "It's a ghost thing. But in order for it to work, you've got to turn off your headset."

"What? Why?" Booth demanded.

"Booth, these kids are not going to talk to anybody if they know every word they're saying is being listened to by people they can't see," Melinda desperately wished she could better explain, but she knew she had no other options.

"They should be used to that, seeing as they live in a town that's supposedly filled with ghosts," Booth grumbled, but he reluctantly took off his headset and set it down on a chair. Melinda smiled in thanks before watching him leave the room.

"I'll call you when I'm leaving," she called out. Then, when she was certain he was gone, she took a deep breath and opened the door to the interrogation room.

Six eyes bore down on her the instant she stepped inside the room. Swallowing once in an attempt to get rid of the lump in her throat, Melinda tried to meet all three gazes at once. "Hi," she said, the softness of her tone revealing just how nervous she was about what she was planning on doing.

Just because Melinda was a woman instead of Booth the tough male FBI agent, it didn't stop Sam's horrible glare or her attitude. "Look, we aren't telling you anything," she snapped. She obviously thought Melinda's shyness was an act, a feeble attempt to get them to speak and perhaps let something slip. "So why don't you just leave and tell that to the other two that were in here earlier? Where did they go anyway?"

"They aren't here anymore," revealed Melinda. As she spoke those truthful words, she watched as Tucker's eyes widened in astonishment. "I asked them to leave so we could talk. Now," she continued, keeping her voice still soft, but friendly, "I guess we should go through the introductions. My name is Melinda, Melinda Gordon." Then she lifted a finger so she could point at each teenager individually. "Your name is Tucker, your name is Sam, and your name…" here she paused for a second before finishing her sentence, "your name is Danny Phantom." Her finger was pointed directly at the black haired boy.

The eyes of all three teenagers widened in shock and fear, and immediately Danny started trying to deny it. Melinda held up her hand to get him to stop. "Don't try to deny it, you're not going to convince me. I saw you last night. Honestly, I'm surprised other people haven't figured it out by now."

Now none of the teenagers were eager to open their mouths, and Melinda knew that she had to convince them that they could trust her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to tell anybody," she reassured them all. "I asked Booth to leave so I could talk to you and he even took Brennan with him."

But none of the teens looked convinced. "How do we know?" Tucker asked cautiously, eyeing Melinda suspiciously. "You could have an ear-piece in, or the room could be bugged. For all we know, the entire city could be watching this!"

"You can check if you'd like," volunteered Melinda, turning her head to the side. She was fully ready to allow him to approach her and do a full body check. Anything to make them see that she was willing to keep their secret a secret.

Tucker looked uncomfortable with the idea, but Sam gave her head a bit of a sideways nod as if to indicate that he should. So reluctantly, he stood up and approached Melinda. He took her head gently and turned it from side to side, and then up and down, staring very carefully, so as not to miss anything. Then when he released her head, he took a slow walk around the room, looking literally everywhere. Finally he sat down again and nodded to his friends. "It's okay. Nobody's listening or watching us."

Obviously the other two teens trusted Tucker, because immediately Danny was asking her the question of, "How did you find out?"

"I can see ghosts. I know that's not a big deal here, but where I come from, it's a very rare talent. And like I said, I saw you last night fighting that ghost with the flaming green hair. Other than the change in hair color and eye color, you haven't really changed at all. Now," Melinda continued, giving Sam, Tucker, and Danny a very serious look, "I'm willing to not tell anybody this, because I can tell it's something you three are trying to keep quiet. However, Booth and Brennan _do_ need to know anything you can tell us about Ember's death. It's obvious you three already knew about it before you got told today, and if you don't explain how you knew, they're going to assume you had a part in it. You three all seem like really nice kids, so I'd like to be able to believe you didn't have anything to do with what happened to her."

"We didn't!" Danny burst out, his bright blue eyes still wide as he protested. "We only found out Ember was dead last night, and that was because I was trying to protect her!"

Melinda's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?" she asked, not understanding. "Protect her from what?"

"Not what, who!" Danny exclaimed again, his voice getting quite high-pitched as he tried to explain. "Look, last night, I saw Skulker, that ghost I was fighting, chasing another ghost. She seemed to need help, so I flew in to give it to her. As Danny Phantom, that's what I do; I help people. But when I got closer, I realized that ghost was Ember! When I started fighting Skulker, she flew away! Then when I tried to find her afterwards to talk to her, it was no use! So I turned back into my human form, found Sam and Tucker, and I told them everything. I wish we'd found out sooner. She was our friend!"

"Could you do me a solid and stop spouting that garbage?"

The sudden appearance of the new voice made everybody jump except for Danny. A cool blue mist had drifted out of his mouth after he'd finished speaking, alerting him of the coming presence. All of the others were startled, but the curt, disrespectful tone belonged to the ghost they all knew.

Ember appeared in a sudden spout of purple smoke right in front of the room's door. Eventually it faded away so that only a little bit lingered on her feet, and at that point Ember took a couple of steps forward, then hopped up on top of the table Melinda, Danny, Sam, and Tucker were all seated on so she could sit on it, her legs dangling off of the side. The scent of the smoke was very strong around her, something that Melinda hadn't noticed the first time she'd met Ember. She decided the smell of Ember's burnt corpse had overpowered it or mixed with it.

"If you chumps really cared about me like I thought you did, then why didn't you try to save me on the night I died? Why didn't you keep me alive?" demanded Ember. The fiery hair in her ponytail seemed to grow bigger the angrier she got. It almost reminded Melinda of a bonfire as it reached higher and higher. She felt some concern about whether or not it would get so large that it touched the ceiling. She was certain that the only emotion Ember was feeling was anger.

Before any of the teenagers Ember had once called friends could speak, she was yelling again. "If I was alive right now, I'd be able to remember whether or not I had the best day of my life a week ago! I'd know whether or not I actually got to put on my concert, the one thing I was actually looking forward to that week! I'd be able to remember if I was actually able to convince my parents to come and watch me! Maybe that night started my career and turned me into somebody my parents actually cared about! Maybe those cheese weasels saw how important my music was to me and actually realized that I didn't need to be the perky, perfect red-headed girl that they wanted me to be!" Suddenly her voice cracked, and when she spoke again, it was much weaker. "Maybe they actually remembered my name for once in their _pathetic _lives."

Melinda felt a pang in her heart at just how weak and upset Ember now sounded. From what she had heard from Mayor Masters and Booth, Ember's family situation had not been the best, but she never would have guessed that her parents hadn't even taken the time to know their own daughter's name. It made her realize why the supposed betrayal of Ember's three friends was so upsetting to her. The situation both angered and saddened Melinda, but she knew she had to be strong for Ember. She had to get as much information from her as she could so they could find out how she had died, and then she had to find some way to convince the poor teenager to go into the light so she could be at peace.

"So you don't remember anything about the night you…" Melinda couldn't even speak the words. Once Ember heard her voice, she turned to look at her. Her heavily made-up green eyes seemed to stare at Melinda with a gaze not as sharp as it had been moments earlier. Her response started out as one solitary word: "No." Then she rubbed one cheek with a black-gloved hand as though she was wiping away tears that didn't exist. "I remember leaving the house after an argument with my parents. I remember preparing for the concert. I spent every spare moment I got practicing." A smile briefly played on Ember's lips, but just as quickly as it had appeared, it went away again. "And I remember waking up crammed inside a guitar case. I remember realizing when I managed to phase out of it and took a good look at myself that I was a ghost and that meant I was dead. Everything between those two times is gone from my memory. All that's left in its place is blackness."

"What about what happened last night?" Melinda asked Ember. "Danny tells me the other ghost was chasing you. Do you have any idea why?"

Ember sniffed once, but quietly, as though she didn't want anybody to hear her. "You mean Skulker?" she chuckled humourlessly. "That turkey thinks he's a fox. He was probably trying to get me to go on a date with him. I bet he was going to try to fake me out like and make me believe that somebody in this damned world actually likes me. But people have done that to me before." At that, she shot a dirty look in the direction of Sam, Danny, and Tucker, and her hair flew a little bit higher again. "I'm no longer easy to fool."

"Ember, we all consider you our friend!" Danny yelled, standing up and meeting her gaze desperately. In his excited state, he transformed from human to ghost, and Melinda was the only one who reacted, as everybody else had seen it a million times before. "If we had known you were in trouble, we honestly would have come to help you! But the last time we saw each other, you told us you never wanted to see us again! Every time we phoned, you didn't answer and we assumed you just didn't want to talk to us!"

That was news to Melinda. "Why didn't you want to talk to them?" she asked Ember. An argument was definitely motive for murder, but though these best friends were keeping a huge secret regarding Danny, she still hated to think that they were also keeping the secret that they'd killed Ember. They seemed to genuinely care about Ember. At least, Danny and Tucker did. Sam had not spoken a word to Ember and had put no effort into getting rid of the look of dislike on her face. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she kept quickly turning her head in Danny's direction as though she expected the half human-half ghost boy to disappear.

Melinda shifted her attention back towards Ember as soon as she started speaking again, her tone full of scorn. "Danny told me that they didn't think it was a good idea for me to do the concert at the mayor's mansion. He said it was dangerous, but I know the truth. Sam told him to tell me not to do it because she's _jealous _of me. Ever since the day we all met, she's hated me because she thinks I want to try stealing her precious boyfriend. She was worried that by having the concert, it would make me look cooler, and as a result, Danny would fall for me and leave her. In reality, all this time she's just had to take a chill pill, because I've never been, and never will be, in love with Daniel Fenton, also known as Danny Phantom!"

That was when Sam exploded. "Alright, fine! I admit it!" she shrieked, throwing her hands up in the air. "I'm usually good at thinking clearly and rationally, but when I met you, I was jealous of you! I tried to act nicely, but I thought that you were trying to steal Danny from me, and that's why I wasn't as kind as Danny and Tucker were! But we didn't tell you not to do your stupid concert because I was worried it would make you look cooler than me! I've _never_ been concerned about how cool I look! I became a Goth so I could express my individuality, whether other people like it or not, and I work hard to make friends that like me for who I am and not what I have!"

'Stupid' was the wrong adjective to have used. Upon hearing it, Ember's temper only increased, and this time her fiery hair did touch the ceiling. Flames spread across it rapidly, crackling and blazing, but luckily no damage was caused. "Stupid?" Ember repeated in a holler, gripping her electric guitar with a grip as hard as steel. "STUPID?" In a fit of rage, she threw her hand holding the guitar pick down on the guitar's strings, playing a loud note and at the same time firing a pink ray that struck Sam square in the chest. The impact was so strong that her chair flew back from the table and hit the wall behind her.

"Ember!" Melinda cried, but Ember was so angry that she was seeing red. Literally flying off of the table, she landed in front of Sam and picked her up by the front of her short black shirt.

"THAT CONCERT WAS MY DREAM!" Ember screamed at the top of her lungs. "THE THING I'D BEEN LONGING FOR EVER SINCE I FIRST PICKED UP A GUITAR! IT WAS GOING TO MAKE EVERYBODY IN THIS TOWN AND EVENTUALLY THE WORLD LOVE ME! IT WAS GOING TO MAKE THEM ALL REMEMBER ME! _REMEMBER…MY…NAME_!"

Suddenly Danny flew forward, and with his ghostly strength, he was able to rip Ember off of Sam. Her grip on Sam immediately loosened, and Danny pulled her back to the table, which he threw her on top of. "Ember, listen to me," he managed to order, his tone deadly serious. "We are your friends. We knew how much that concert meant to you, trust me. But we didn't want you doing it at Vlad's mansion because we don't trust Vlad! He's dangerous!"

That unexpected statement made Melinda freeze up. The man she'd met last night that was mayor of the entire town and had told her that Danny, Sam, and Tucker were bad children was dangerous? But he'd seemed like such a kind, gentle man! "What do you mean he's dangerous?" she demanded. "He's the one who told Booth and I that Ember was hanging out with you three! He said you were bad kids who were known to get into trouble!"

Tucker scoffed, speaking for what was probably only the second or third time that day. "Typical," he said. He rolled his teal blue eyes, but didn't go further into explanation. By that time, Ember was no longer struggling as hard under Danny's grip on the table, and Sam had pulled up her chair again. She was staring at Danny with concern evident in her gaze. It was as though all three of them were communicating telepathically, and Melinda waited patiently for someone to try to explain.

It was Danny who spoke again; he seemed to be the leader of the trio. "Vlad doesn't like us," he started to explain, but the explanation was cut short when another wisp of cool air blew from his mouth. He turned to face the door of the interrogation room and groaned. "Aw, dang." The words came out like a curse.

"What's the matter Danny?" Tucker asked, as everybody watched him.

Danny turned and responded under his breath. "That fruit loop's in the building. I can't say anything about him when he's so close; I don't want him to hear what I tell you." His blue eyes flew up to meet Melinda's. "Do you think you could meet us tonight at my house? My parents will be out, so it'll be really private. Ember, you're going to want to come too. This is stuff that you need to hear."

The fact that Danny had completely forgotten there was no way anybody outside of the room could see or hear them made Melinda realize that he really didn't like or trust Vlad. That made her slightly suspicious of the man, and she found herself nodding in agreement with Danny's words. Anything she found out about Vlad could possibly be used against him. After all, if he had been lying before, who knew what else he could have been or would lie about?

"Whatever," Ember grumbled, but Melinda knew that she could expect the disgruntled teenager to be there as well. "Later dipsticks." Then she vanished in another cloud of purple smoke before anybody could try speaking to her again.

As soon as she was gone, Danny gave Melinda his address. Then he gave her a look of concern. "So what are you going to tell that FBI agent about our conversation?"

Melinda gave him what she hoped was a comforting smile. "I'll have to tell him everything that has to do with the case. But I won't tell him your secret, I promise. That's a detail that nobody needs to know."

Danny smiled back. "Thanks." Then they all stepped out of the interrogation room, and the teenagers were met by police officers, who revealed that they had been assigned to bring them home. As soon as they were gone, Melinda started walking towards a room where there were benches, tables, chairs, and a little coffee machine surrounded by cups, stir sticks, and things to put inside a cup of joe. She was just about to make herself a cup when she heard two tiny voices calling, "Hi Mrs. Gordon!"

Turning around, she felt her heart skip a couple of beats when she realized Tibby and Mikey were sitting on a bench, waving at her warmly. But her heart then proceeded to stop when she saw Mayor Vlad Masters sitting beside them.

Approaching the trio, she managed to squeak out in what she hoped was a normal voice, "Mikey! Tibby! What are you two still doing here?" She even forgot to mention that she didn't mind if they called her Melinda.

"I think Mommy and Daddy forgot about us," Tibby giggled, smiling in embarrassment. "Their car is gone."

"But Mr. Masters asked if he could sit with us until someone came to get us!" butted in Mikey. His smile was ten times as big as Tibby's.

"Oh Mayor Masters," Melinda managed to gasp out, trying not to panic. "Thank you very much. I hope they weren't a bother."

"Not at all," the smile Vlad gave Melinda made shivers run down her spine, and she tried as hard as she could not to show it. "It was quite interesting getting to know these little angels. Did you know they can list all of the bones in the human body?"

"Yes, they are quite intelligent," Melinda responded, keeping her fake smile plastered on her face. "They get it from their parents."

Tibby came up to Melinda and spoke in what might have been an attempted whisper. "Did you know that Mayor Masters believes in ghosts? Does that mean he's insane and irrational like Mommy says?"

"Tibby!" Melinda gasped, covering her mouth with her hand. "That's very rude. Say you're sorry."

Tibby mumbled an apology sheepishly, then Mikey came, grabbed her by the arm, and together they took off towards the table where the coffee was, hoping to find some yummy snacks there as well.

"I'm so sorry about that," Melinda apologized as well to the mayor. "Her mother is a scientist, and she is very focused on the facts, so I'm afraid she doesn't believe in ghosts."

Vlad smiled again and shook his head. "It's quite alright Melinda. Children do tend to repeat and take after their parents. Although I did think that they were yours at first."

"Oh!" Melinda blushed and shook her head instantly. "No. My child is safe at home with his father."

"Ah." Vlad smiled and shook his head again as if remembering something that had happened in the past. But then his voice lowered and he spoke in a more serious tone. "I don't mean to pry, but…when I was with the children, they were talking about a girl they met at the playground. They claimed she 'wasn't solid.' I hope you don't mind if I ask…did they actually see a ghost? Have they seen any at all while they've been here?"

Melinda was uncomfortable with responding, but somehow felt as if Vlad wouldn't let her leave without answering. "I'm not sure," she confessed, looking him in the eyes as she spoke. "When they met the little girl, I wasn't with them; I was in the gift shop nearby. But last night, after our car crashed…They were looking up into the sky right where the ghosts were fighting. If they have been seeing ghosts, I'm terrified to bring it up with Brennan. For me and my family, seeing ghosts is the norm. It's a gift that's been passed down from generation to generation. But as I mentioned previously, Brennan is very against the idea of their existence."

Melinda had no idea why she had been so truthful, but it was too late to take any of it back. Vlad nodded solemnly. "I see." Then, with a sly grin much like the one Melinda had thought she'd seen the night before, he spoke again. "Well, at least there are some who know the truth. Isn't that right Melinda?"

His words made it difficult for Melinda to speak again, but she managed to choke out, "Yes, I suppose so."

Then, after a quick farewell, Mayor Vlad Masters turned and left, leaving Melinda stunned and staring as he left her alone with the two kids chatting in the background, oblivious to the conversation that had just taken place.


End file.
